Be honest. Before you started reading this, did you scroll to the very bottom of the article to see how long it was? That’s what I do with a lot of articles and posts I read online, whether it’s checking the number of pages, the word count, or how long it takes me to scroll to the end. That’s why blog platforms like Medium have even incorporated a feature that tells you approximately how many minutes it will take you to read the post
The other day, I read that a retailer online was selling one-minute bedtime stories for parents to read to their kids at bedtime. I honestly thought this was crazy. How busy do people have to be to not even be able to sit with their kids for 15 or 20 minutes and tell them a proper story?
But it’s a reality for so, so many people.
In today’s world, we always seem to be pressed for time, to the point where we think we can’t even squeeze in a 10- or 12-minute article, or a more descriptive bedtime story. We always feel as if there’s just never enough time, no matter how many productivity tips we’re using or how fast we work. The clock always moves faster than we want it to.
Everybody is always in a rush. We fill up our daily calendars with back-to-back appointments and meetings, we have dozens and dozens of items on our to-do lists and the lists keep growing the more we check off. We run and drive from one place to the other, and we pile our plates so high that we stopped being able to see over them a long time ago.
Our success is defined by the amount of items we can cross off on the to-do list, or how many meetings we can schedule in a week.
Our lives as students are certainly no exception. We always have an endless number of readings and assignments to do, and no matter how fast we try to work, we somehow end up pulling an all-nighter here and there to finish something.
We unintentionally compete with each other to see who can get the most done with the least amount of sleep. It’s almost seen as a socially desirable thing to be able to run on four hours of sleep each night, if we’re overworking.
We’re taught how to work faster and more efficiently, we’re told about different productivity methods and apps to try, and we’re lectured on ways we can change our habits and routines to save time. But that’s always the problem, isn’t it? The more we work (and sometimes the faster), the more work there seems to be done. We always think we’re saving time, and yet we feel like we never have enough of it.
I read once somewhere that people call it the time famine. We’re always so starved of time.
If we slow down, things won’t get done, right? If we’re not rushing, we’re doing something wrong, right?
Not necessarily.
I wanted to write this because I think it’s so important to spread the message to people that we need to slow down from time to time. We need to stop thinking that our whole life is a race against time. Especially now, with the semester getting so busy, it’s so important to remember to just take a step back and breathe.
There’s always going to be tasks on our to-do lists to check off. This is going to be true no matter what phase of our lives we’re in – right now it’s schoolwork, 10 years from now it’ll probably be our families and our careers. And there’s always just going to be 24 hours in a day. So it’s our job to honestly take care of ourselves and slow down when we need to the most.
We need to live in the moment more, as cliché as it sounds. Because right now, with the way we’re living, so many are just rushing by us, unnoticed. When was the last time you just took a moment to sit and gaze up at the sky for just fice minutes? When was the last time you remember hearing the birds chirping in your neighbourhood?
Rushing isn’t good for anybody – we might be sacrificing family and friend time, we’re definitely not giving our undivided attention to just one thing, and we’re stressing ourselves out.
The real secret is balance. Somebody once said that instead of doing everything faster, we need to everything at the right speed. Sometimes fast. Sometimes slow. Sometimes in between.
We need to start mastering the art of slowing down, instead of the art of speeding up.
Here are some really simple ways to slow down for just a bit:
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Next time you eat, don’t do it while scrolling mindlessly on your phone. Just eat, and don’t rush.
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Meditate. For even just two minutes each day. A God-send.
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Walk from class to class without looking down at your phone or listening to music.
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Go to bed without setting an alarm and let yourself get enough rest.
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Watch Netflix in bed for a few hours if you need it. Listen to your own needs.
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Take a walk (there are so many proven benefits to just walking) or go for a workout if you’re feeling it.
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Next time when you’re stuck in traffic, instead of getting road rage, try to just take the time to admire the view or listen to some music.
So, try slowing down. Even when the world is rushing around you. Even if you think you’re the only one slowing down. You’ll thank yourself for it later on.